Rising star Oscar Isaac is already a critics' favourite thanks to roles in acclaimed movies such as the Coen brothers' quirky hit Inside Llewyn Davis – but he is set to soar into the Hollywood stratosphere in the new Star Wars film.
The American actor, who was born in Guatemala, is likely to become a household name around the world with the December 18 release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which was partly filmed in Abu Dhabi. He plays Poe Dameron, who is described as "the best pilot in the galaxy" – though we're sure Han Solo might have something to say about that.
Detailed information about the plot of the new trilogy, directed by J J Abrams, and Isaac’s role in it are closely guarded secrets. All we know so far is that Poe is sent on a mission by Princess Leia, an assignment that will see his “fate changed forever”.
While awaiting the media maelstrom, Isaac calmly recalls the moment when Abrams called him to offer him the role of a lifetime.
“It was totally surreal, like a dream that you can’t explain,” says the 35-year-old.
Working with Star Wars veterans Harrison Ford (Solo), Carrie Fisher (Leia) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), who were his silver-screen heroes when he was a child, was a deeply emotional experience.
“I would never have been able to imagine, when I was small, that one day I would be with Harrison Ford and Chewbacca,” he says. “It was difficult because I had to restrain my emotions and control myself to be able to do my work. But it was a real dream to be part of this phenomenon.”
As fans excitedly count the days until the release of the seventh episode in the franchise, which has already made more than US$4.5 billion (Dh16.5bn), Isaac prefers to take things more calmly, even as pressure and expectations mount ahead of the movie’s release.
Isaac, who studied at New York's prestigious The Juilliard School for the performing arts, welcomes the fact that he is now able, in part thanks to Star Wars, to work with directors he likes and, above all, to "choose different roles".
For years the actor, whose mother is Guatemalan and father is Cuban, played supporting roles in films such as The Nativity Story (2006), The Life Before Her Eyes (2007) and 2010's Robin Hood.
But his career really took off when he met Joel and Ethan Coen.
The brothers, famous for their dark and often absurdist movies, offered him the lead role in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), in which he plays a young musician in New York in 1961.
His performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination and put him on the radar of Hollywood’s top producers and directors.
Since then he has appeared in The Two Faces of January, alongside Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, and shared the limelight with Jessica Chastain – also a graduate of Juilliard – in last year's A Most Violent Year, written and directed by J C Chandor.
Isaac was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed science-fiction thriller Ex Machina and will follow up his role in Star Wars with another blockbuster franchise sequel, when he appears next year as the titular villain in X-Men: Apocalypse.
Now that he’s made it into the ranks of the Hollywood elite, Isaac dreams of working on the other side of the camera, as a director.
“I haven’t done it yet because I haven’t had the time,” he says. “But I’ve still got lots of time ahead of me.”
